In this article, you will find exactly how to get rid of the fishy smell in the house. The ideas shared here are simple, practical and very effective.
Fish smell travels pretty fast. Before you know it, the odor is in the living room, bedroom, everywhere! And it will be there for such a long period until it becomes nauseating.
Why Do Fish Smell So Badly?
If you are used to preparing fish as a meal either by steaming it, frying it, etc, it’s not rocket science to know that fish smell extremely bad after you are done cooking it. Even if you are not the type that cooks, merely eating it will leave your hands and house smelling of the marine creature for such a long period.
Why does fish smell so awful? You wonder.
Well, here’s the answer. Fish and several marine animals contain a chemical known trimethylamine (TMA). While in the ocean water, this chemical enables them to maintain the perfect balance of salts and fluids necessary for their survival.
The chemical is responsible for the foul smell you notice around a fish. Though this odor is quite noticeable when a fish is still alive, it becomes much more noticeable when it is dead. This is because the enzymes in the fish cells and bacteria within it, release the chemical when it’s dead, giving rise to the increase in the odor of the fish.
Is There A Way To Eliminate The Odor Fast?
Absolutely. As tough as the fishy smell can be around the house, there are practical ways to get rid of it.
That includes the use of several pet odor removers and natural products that are known to be very effective in tackling tough smells. Apart from that, there are also simple techniques that can be applied to get rid of it fast. All of these will be discussed in this post. You will find them as you read on.
Eliminating fishy smell around the house can be tough. Although all these methods revealed the below work. There is no assurance that the result will be instant. It may take a few minutes to hours before the result becomes quite obvious.
Simple Things To Do To Eliminate Fishy Smell In The House
Whether you are frying or steaming fish indoors, it doesn’t take much time for the odor to spread all over the house. Below are a few practical things you can do to minimize or eliminate them. They include things you can do before, during and after cooking the fish.
- Soak The Fish In Milk
Before you cook the fish, soak it in milk for some minutes. Like 15 to 20 minutes. There is a protein found in milk called Casein. This protein can help trap trimethylamine, the chemical we mentioned earlier that causes fish to smell.
After soaking it for a few minutes in the milk, bring it out and cook it whichever way you want. With the milk all over the body.
- Sprinkle Lemon Juice On The Fish
Lemon juice has one of the most pleasant smell anyone can ever come across. The juice also contains an acid which can help neutralize the bad-smelling chemical in fish. By sprinkling the fish with lemon juice, you would be left with just a very little odor from the fish. That is if it is not eliminated.
- Open The Kitchen Doors And Windows
Before cooking the fish or while you are on it, open the kitchen windows and doors. This will allow for the proper circulation of air within the room.
The challenge with this though is that it will not cause the odor to go away instantly, but it will greatly minimize it. With time, it will fade away.
- Turn On The Fan
If you are stuck with the fishy smell all over your room, one of the best things to do is to turn on the fan. Whether a ceiling fan or standing fan, it will help reduce the odor in the room.
Before you know it, the smell will be gone completely.
- Clean Your Appliances Immediately After Cooking
Cleaning your pans, pots and store tops immediately after cooking can help get rid of the smell. As long as you let fish oil linger on any of them, the smell will be there.
The refrigerator where you stored the fish before cooking it is another appliance you must pay attention to cleaning properly. Without cleaning that, the smell will still be there.
Eliminating Fishy Smell Using Odor Removers at Home
There are several odor removal products you can use to get rid of fishy smells in the house. The following are just a few of them.
- De-Fishing Soap
De-Fishing soap is not one of those products that masks fish odor, it completely gets rid of it. The odor remover contains natural ingredients that fight tough fishy smell without hurting anything. It is delicate on equipment, clothes, and skin.
You can use it to was your hands, your cookware, and appliances after preparing a fish meal. The results are great compared to what is obtainable with every other formula out there.
As a bonus, this fishy odor remover also eliminates garlic and onion smell. You don’t have to use another product for them. When you buy this, you get the perfect odor eliminator for them too.
De-Fishing soap for fishy smell can be gotten from Amazon and several other e-commerce websites.
Pros
- Low PH
- It’s biodegradable
- It is fast-acting
Cons
- A little bit expensive
- Breathe Green Bamboo Charcoal Air Purifying Bags
The fish smell is very tough to deal with. It has a way of lingering for a very long time. However, with Breathe Green Bamboo Charcoal Air Purifying Bag, it takes just a few minutes or hours to get rid of the odor.
The activated charcoal has been thoroughly treated to absorb even the strongest smell, eliminating it from the house. You can hang the bags in your kitchen or room, wherever you need them. You can even put them inside your refrigerator and leave them to deal with the fish smell there.
Apart from eliminating the unpleasant fishy odor, the activated charcoal also reduces humidity by absorbing moisture in the air. Thereby preventing the growth of mildew.
The air purifying bags does exactly what they exactly advertise. They’re lightweight, non-toxic and ecofriendly. You can use them to get rid of the pungent fish odor, without worrying about the product causing any harm to the environment.
Pros
- It is made from natural sources and ecofriendly.
- Absorbs moisture from the air
- They are re-usable.
Cons
- The results take a while to be noticeable.
- Refrigerator Deodorizers
The smell of fish kept in the refrigerator can linger for a long time. Even after the fish has been removed from it.
With a refrigerator deodorizer, you can easily get rid of it. All you have to do is to place the deodorizer in the fridge and allow it to absorb the fish odor completely.
The odor eliminator works better than baking soda and several other products. It also lasts longer than them as well. You can keep using it for up to 6 months.
The refrigerator deodorizer is non-toxic and can be used around food substances.
Pros
- Lasts for several months
- Non-toxic and safe around food
- Fast-acting
Cons
The odor may pass on to food items
- Smoker’s Candle
Lord Byron’s Smoker’s Candle is specially formulated using essential oils to neutralize strong odors in the house. Citrus and wood oils are the main essential oils found in it.
The candle doesn’t just eliminate cigarette smoke and odors alone, it also takes care of other offensive smells, including fishy odor.
While burning, it releases a very pleasant smell that gets rid of any other in the house.
The good thing about the candle is that it is made from natural sources and is therefore safe for use at home and around kids.
You can find the product on Amazon and several other online shopping malls.
Pros
- It is made from natural sources.
- It is cost-effective.
Other Methods That Can Be Used To Eliminate Fishy Smell After Cooking
Based on our research, some persons claim these methods below works for them.
Place a pot of water on the store. Cut up some lemons and add them to it. Allow them to stay on the stove for some minutes. Once the water starts boiling, the aroma will spread across the house, eliminating the fishy smell.
You can also use orange or grapefruit peels for this according to many users who have tried it.
Another method involves the use of air purifiers.
In Summary
We have in this article discussed how to get rid of fishy smell in the house using simple techniques and supplies.
Are you searching for fast ways of eliminating fish odor at home?
I hope you find this post useful.